Insulating material



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILSON P. DODSON, OF PHILADELPHIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ALEXANDER H. EGE, OEMEGHA'NICSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

INSULATING MATERIAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 244,565, dated July 19, .1881.

Application filed May 6, 188 15 (No specimens.) I J To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILsON P. DODSON, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new anduseful improvementsin insulators, or non-conducting material to be used in connection with telegraphing and for other purposes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it.

My invention has for its object to surround or inclose an electrical or other conducting medium-such as copper or other metallic wire-With an insulating compound having certain desirable characterristics-t0 wit: convenient to handle and to be applied; not easily destructible; of a consistency to be laid or deposited in suitable beds or receptacles not affected by the ordinarytelements or constituents of the soil orother deteriorating agencies; that may be repellant to water not affected by heat or cold within thelimits to which it would ordi narily be subjected, while 'at the same time possessing the capabilityof being used in a semi-liquid, plastic, or solid state, peculiarities that render this medium particularly valuable, since it becomes enhanced in quality rather than deteriorated by the lapse of time.

The invention consists in surrounding or enveloping a cable of wire or wires or other conductor with a compound of carbonate of lime, either natural or manufactured, and any of the suitable hydrocarbon oilssuoh as linseed-oil, cotton-seed oil, sunflower-seed oil, or other vegetable oil-with any of the forms ofpetroleum, paraftine oils, or their equivalents, and mixed in such proportions as to admit of being applied in a semi-plastic state either to the surface of the conductor, its bed, or to both.

In oarryingout my invention I prefer to combine eight parts, by weight, of carbonate of lime, more or less pure-such, for example, as developed in chalk (preferably baked or heated to expel any latent moisture, and known in commerce as whiting,)-with one partof some suitable hydrocarbon oil-such as petroleum, parafline oil, linseed-oil, or their equivalents-thoroughl y mixed to secure the required "consistency as embodied in the compound known to trade'as putty, and then applied in a semi-plastic state to the desired seats. In the use of the term putty I wish to be understood as meaning such a compound as maybe made from mixing pulverized anhydrous chalk (carbonate of lime or whiting) and any of the above-mentioned oils, or their equivalents, as a substitute for linseed-oil, one of the constituents most commonly used in the compound knownito commerce under the name of putty. Therefore, in the use of this term, unless otherwise designated, I wish to be understood as using said term putty in the above-mentioned broad signification. The exact proportions above named are, however, not essential, the only object desired being the attainment of such a consistency as will retain its plasticity for such a length of time as will suffice for the compound to insinuate itself into all the interstices of the environing receptacles ere it assumes an ultimate desired hardness, a condition also not invariable but capable of being restored at will to the originalplastic or semiplastic condition bythe use of such agents as have such solvent properties conducive to this end, agents whose susceptibilities in this respect are fully known to all having occasion to use the .same.

While, then, I prefer to use said compound in connection with cables of wires or other conductors already insulated, yet I wish it to be understood that I can dispense with any other insulating medium by increasing the proportion of the oily constituent or constituents entering into my compound and applying the same to any textile fabric or other covering; first found suitable as an outer covering or wrapping for cables or wires.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

The herein-described insulating compound for electrical conductors, consisting of carbonate of lime and linseed or an equivalent oil, substantially as described. 1

WILSON P. DODSON.

Witnesses I GEORGE HOUSE, T. P. MoWEEMs. 

